Cancer remains No. 1 cause of death in Taiwan in 2016

Taipei--Cancer remained the No. 1 cause of death in Taiwan for the 35th consecutive year, accounting for 27.7 percent of all deaths in 2016, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on Monday.

A total of 47,760 people died from malignant tumors in Taiwan last year, the ministry said. Taiwan has a population of about 23 million.

Lung, liver and colon cancers were the deadliest, according to data released by the ministry.

The next most common causes of death were heart disease, pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, accidents and chronic lower respiratory diseases.

Rounding out the top 10 causes, in descending order, were hypertension-related diseases, nephritis, nephritic syndrome and nephropathy, chronic liver disease and cirrhosis.

The rankings remained the same as the previous year, except for the No. 3 and No. 4 ailments which switched places.

The reason pneumonia rose to No. 3 is probably a severe cold spell in January that year, with snow falling in even urban areas, said Centers for Disease Control Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (???).

Ministry data showed that 12,212 people died of pneumonia, a 13.5 percent increase from 2015.

A total of 172,418 people died in Taiwan in 2016, 8,844 more than the previous year. That equates to 471 deaths per day, with a death every three minutes and three seconds -- nine seconds less than in 2015, according to the ministry.

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